Expandable loose leaf post binder



Feb. 18, 1964 F. s. SCHADE 3,121,432

EXPANDABLE LOOSE LEAF POST BINDER Filed Nov. 29, 1962 INVENTOR. K FRANK STANLEY SCHADE BY 4471M IE 1 5- 7 United States Patent 3,121,432 EXPANDABLE LOOSE LEAF POST BINDER Frank Stanley Schade, Holyoke, Mass, assignor to National Blank Book Company, Holyoke, Mass, at corporation of Massachusetts Filed Nov. 29, 1962, Ser. No. 240,915 1 Claim. (Cl. 129-41) This invention relates to expandable post binders for loose sheets and in particular to a binder mechanism of the type in which stiflly flexible post elements such as wire or plastic rods are employed for securing a large filler pack of sheets between the covers of a binder.

The invention is more specifically directed to an improved post binder assembly particularly adapted to hold business record sheets of the type having closely spaced perforations along the marginal side portions thereof, such marginal perforations being provided for tracking the sheets through business record-keeping machines. Sheets of this type are commonly sections of a long strip of paper which is folded and arranged in fan-fold fashion, the marginal perforations enabling a continuous strip operation of the business machine. A pack of such sheets, when removed from the machine, is desirably stored in a binder having a. relatively large capacity. In most cases such business records are kept for occasional reference only and are destroyed when obsolete. Accordingly, it is of advantage to have an inexpensive, easily manageable yet sturdy binder, capable of expansion to a relatively large size on the order of four to six inches in thickness. The object of this invention is to provide a binder with these characteristics which is simple and sure in operation both from the standpoint of building up the contents thereof and of carrying large capacities in a secure manner.

The nature of the invention and various objects and advantages will be apparent from the following description of an embodiment thereof as shown by the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view with portions cutaway of a binder embodying the invention, the top cover being raised;

FIGS. 2 and 3 are fregrnentary plan views of the post retaining mechanism to illustrate the operation thereof in the assembly shown by FIG. 1; and

FIGS. 4 and 5 are fragmentary perspective views on an enlarged scale, with parts in section, of the mechanism shown by FIGS. 2 and 3 and illustrating details of construction as well as operation.

In the drawings the binder is shown by FIG. 1 with a pack of filler sheets 2 having closely spaced perforations 4 arranged along the lateral side margins of the sheets. The sheets as above noted comprise one or more series of fan-fold sheets, each series having been placed in the binder, as desired, after being run through a business machine in a continuous strip operation. The perforations 4 conventionally track the sheets through a machine and the folded ends would be located at 6 and 8 in the binder assembly. As will be appreciated the binder would, of course, also be suitable for appropriately punched single sheets.

The binder assembly includes a front marginal binding portion 10 and a back marginal portion 12 to which the front and back covers 14 and 16 are respectively hingedly related as shown.

As best seen by FIG. '1 and FIG. 5 each marginal binding portion 10 and 112 is provided with a channel member fastened thereto, each such member being generally designated by numeral \17. Preferably, the channel member at the front is identical with that of the rear cover. Accordingly, the description of the front or top channel will apply equally to the rear channel in the assembly shown. It will be appreciated, however, that either the front or back marginal portion may have a different post holding arrangement so long as the posts, as will be later described, extend therefrom through the perforations of the sheets into the channel assembly which will now be described.

Channel 17 is a shallow U-shaped member having a base 18 and upstanding side walls 20. The covers and integral marginal binding portions are desirably formed of thin stifily flexible cardboard or like material and the channel member of metal. Thus the metal of the channels acts as a stury reinforcement of the binding margins to securely hold between them the edges of the sheets of a relatively large filler pack. With the inflexible metal channels at the binding edge the covers may be of neat appearing relatively thin inexpensive material.

Adjacent each extreme end of the marginal binding portion 10 the channel base 18 is fixed thereto by a grommet-type fastener at 22. The fastener 22, best shown by FIGS. 4 and 5, is formed with upper and lower collared ends 23 fastening the base and binding portion together. A post hole opening 24 is shown through the fastener and an arm 26 of a post retaining member 28 is pivotally mounted between the base 18 and portion 10.

The post hole openings 24 of the fasteners are registrable with each other and with the perforations in the edges of the sheet pack 2 and are adapted to receive stifily flexible post members 30 passing through the perforations of the sheets as shown. The post members 39 are of any desirable length. As shown, the end portions extend beyond the fasteners and may be turned into the channel member to be retained by the pivoted latching or retaining members 28.

Each retaining member 28 is rotatably mounted on fastener 22 by the arm 26 pivotally engaging the same. Arm 26 is frictionally movable between portion 10 and base 10 and base 18 for swinging between a releasing and a retaining position. As best shown by FIGS. 4 and 5, the arm 26 comprises a flat plate at the side edge of which an upstanding wall portion 32 extends upwardly with a retainer plate portion 34- extending from portion 32. Member 28 is preferably integrally bent from a single metal piece, the plate portion 34 lying in a plane parallel to and overlying the plane of the channel base.

Retainer member 28 is swingable from the holding position (FIGS. 2 and 4) to the releasing position (FIG. 5). In the holding position the plate 34 bridges the channel side walls 20 inwardly adjacent the fastener and overlies the base. The upstanding wall 32 is nested against the adjacent channel wall 20. In this position the wire or cable constituting post 30 is held in flexed position in the channel underneath plate 3 4 and is sufficiently sprung to resist any frictional movement in fastener openings 24.

It Will be noted that the free edge of the plate 34 as at 36 extends beyond the opposite channel wall 20 (FIGS. 2 and 4). Thus, finger pressure against the edge 36 will be elfective to shift the member 28 slightly and provide finger tip engagement at the outer end of wall 32 (FIGS. 3 and 5). Member 28 can then be conveniently swung to its releasing position. It will be noted that wall 32 at its outer end extends beyond the adjacent edges of arm 26 and plates 34 and provides a lip 38 by which finger engagement can readily swing the member (FIGS. 3 and 5).

Post members 30 as described are stifily flexible and may conveniently be made of a plastic covered wire cable or monofilament nylon strip material, for example. Being of strong resilient material it may be bent sharply while retaining its resiliency and ability to return to straight form after long continued use. It will be seen that the posts may be as long as desired. When the binder is empty or contains a relatively thin pack, the long end portions may be effectively concealed and retained in the channel along the binding section of the assembly. The retainer plates 34 are located inwardly adjacent the post openings so as to create a sharp bend in the material of the post and thus hold the posts securely in the assembly.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as novel and desired to be secured by Letters Patent of the United States is:

An expandable post binder for loose sheets having perforated marginal edge portions, said binder having front and back marginal binding portions and covers hingedly related to said portions, at least one binding portion having a U-sha-ped channel member with a base and upstanding side walls, a grommet-type fastener adjacent each end of the base securing said channel member to said binding portion, each fastener having a post hole opening therethrough and said openings being registrable with perforations in the edges of said sheets, stifily flexible post memibers secured to the other of said binding portions and passing through said perforations and having the end portions thereof extending through and beyond said post openings for flexing said end portions between said channel member side Walls, and a post retaining member having an arm pivotally mounted on each grommet-type fastener under said channel member and between the channel member and said one marginal binding portion, the said arm outwardly of the fastener having an upstanding wall portion and a retainer plate portion extending from the wall portion in a plane parallel to the channel memher base, said wall portion extending outwardly beyond the edges of the arm and plate and forming a finger engaging lip, said retaining member being swingable to and from a retaining position in Which said retainer plate portion bridges the sides of the channel member for holding the end of a post member in the channel, said retaining member in said retaining position lying with the wall portion thereof nested flatly against a side Wall of the channel member and the free edge of the retainer plate portion at the opposite side beyond the upper edge of the opposite channel side wall, whereby said free edge of the plate may be manually shifted to move said upstanding wall portion away from its said nested position and said lip is accessible for finger engagement to swing said member away from said retaining position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 849,774 Dow Apr. 9, 1907 898,245 Maltby Sept. 8, 1908 1,433,949 Hankel Oct. 31, 1922 1,479,607 Inman Jan. 1, 1924 1,683,975 Horn Sept. 11, 1928 FOREIGN PATENTS 214,402 Austria Sept. 15, 1960 

